Woman spends $98k to transform into a ‘cyborg’

A former techy has told how she ditched her job to become a tattoo artist and spent more than $98,000 to turn herself into a “cyborg”.

A woman who was unhappy with her body decided to turn herself into a “cyborg” – and she has pledged to never stop making herself even more extreme.

Lina L, who now goes by her alter-ego Cigno, ditched her top tech job to become a tattoo artist in San Francisco, California, The US Sun reports.

To sustain her tattooing hobby, Cigno, who moved over from Germany, began posting racy photos to her 109,000 Instagram followers and started her own OnlyFans page and claims she’s spent more than $70,000 ($A98,100) inking herself since 2010.

And she has no plans on stopping there – no matter what people think of her unique appearance.

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Cigno moved to San Francisco from Germany to become a tattoo artist. Picture: Jam Press.

“A lot of people stare. Honestly, going back to Germany this year and going back to the farmer’s market in town with like 20 people, there were people stopping or going back to get another glimpse [of me],” she told The Sun Online.

“For some people it’s too drastic, for some people they say they’re not fans of tattoos but like my face tattoos … a lot of people say it’s cool but would never do it. And some want to get tattoos also.”

The former techy – who gets tattooed every month – says she is “never going to stop” modifying her body and is already planning to get spine-looking implants on her forearms and surgery to enhance her collar bones.

“Now I’m at a point where I have a direction,” she told us, saying her “dream body suit” was to transform herself into a cyborg and that she still had a “bucket list” of things she wanted to get done to her body.

“I love cyborg technology and I used to work in tech as well in the Bay area and I wanted to transform everything to a robot-y kind of look and so I started with my right arm just recently.”

She first started getting tattooed in 2010 and has spent about $70,000 on them. Picture: kxpissue/Jam Press

Cigno said she’s always been fascinated with technology and has been inspired by Silicon Valley companies.

“I had an early fascination for Sci-Fi stuff in my childhood and then actually living and breathing tech. I don’t know, it just kind of grew on me and it’s so f**kin’ rad,” she said.

“The style is so cool.”

Lina also wants to get her ears pointed but had to postpone her operation last year due Covid-19 lockdowns.

“It’s been a bit hard because of Covid to find artists who are performing that. I like the idea of having Star Trek kind of ears so that’s definitely something I want to do this year.”

Cigno claims she wants to transform into a ‘cyborg’. Picture: @cigno.sg/Jam Press

Cigno is now a fully qualified tattoo artists working in the Bay area.

She says she’s become a bit of “an icon” among the tattoo community and clients single her out to do work on them.

“They see me as an icon and I see that at photo shoots too. More in terms of ‘she dares to do what a lot of people don’t’. I get admiration for that and also that I don’t give a f**k and live my dream without fear,” she said.

Cigno says she does a lot of memorial tattoos for clients and says many come forward to get that “therapeutic” hit.

“It could be a failed marriage where they’ve lived in abuse for years – a lot of people come for something metamorphosis-themed, like they want change or they have something, like a body part or an old tattoo they don’t want anymore or want it enhanced and feel more beautiful after it.

“It’s like getting a beauty treatment.”

Cigno’s transformation also included diet and exercise. Picture: Jam Press

Cigno has always been fascinated with body art and wanted to become a “living piece of art” herself.

She told us she had to suppress her love for tattoos as a kid because her strict upbringing in Germany meant she had to “tick all the boxes and make everybody happy” all the while she harboured “a secret passion, obsession with tattoos and guys with tattoos”.

She said one day a “switch flipped” in her head and the model started eating healthily and working out regularly, losing almost four stone.

“I didn’t like the way I looked in the mirror and I needed to change in order to feel better about myself,” she said. “My first and one of my biggest transformations was definitely my weight loss a couple years back.

“I lost over 50 pounds (22kg), changed my diet, hit the gym hard.

“It’s like a switch that flipped in my head. I understood that the only way to truly become whoever you want to be if you work towards it – every single day.”

She has lost 20kg after making lifestyle changes. Picture: @cigno.sg/Jam Press

In 2010, she got her first tattoo and now has more than 50 all over her body – including on her head, face, breasts and butt.

She’s even had horns inserted under her facial skin and a silicone ring put on her chest and hopes to split her tongue in half.

She has also had breast implants, nose surgery, piercings, stretched earlobes and shaved her head bald to give herself a striking new look.

Lina said she was unhappy with herself and the way she looked before getting inked, which sparked her years-long transformation.

She says her family is slowly coming around to her extreme new look but says she wouldn’t change who she is now.

“I feel like I’m still myself, just a better version,” Cigno said.

This article originally appeared in The US Sun and was reproduced with permission